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REPORTS 

V OF THE 

JOINT COMMITTEE 



ON 



/ 



CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, 



MADE TO 



©t)e ©cneral QTonDention, 



October, 1880. 



BOSTON: • 
FRANKLIN PRESS: RAND, AVERY, & CO. 
1881. 



Reprinted by vote of the House of Deputies. 



Charles L. Butchins, 

, . . TfttW Vb- Secretary. 



**** Gift 



itfN 20 * 



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APPENDIX VIIL 



I. —REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON CHRISTIAN 

EDUCATION. 

The Joint Committee on Christian Education respectfully beg leave 
to report as follows : — 

A Committee on Christian Education was first appointed at the 
General Convention of 1868; and it has been continued, with constant 
changes in the personnel of its membership, by the Conventions of 1871, 
1874, and 1877. Of the present committee there are only three of those 
who reported at the last General Convention. 

With these changes in the constitution of the Committee, there will be 
found considerable variety of opinions in the various reports, — all, how- 
ever, grounded upon the paramount importance of the subject, and all 
urgent for judicious, but prompt, activity on the part of the Church. 
As yet, however, it seems not too much to say, that very little of sys- 
tematic effort has been produced by the reports of the Committee, or the 
deliberations of the General Convention. 

This is due, at least in part, to a want of clear definition in the title 
of the subject proposed. The phrase'" Christian education " is of so ex- 
tended a meaning, and covers so many significates. that it seems to your 
Committee not happily chosen to express what the Convention really 
desires to bring before the Ofrurch., When we speak of providing 
Christian education for a child, we mean, generally, instruction in Chris- 
tian doctrine, as embodied in the Church Catechism, and in Christian 
practice of holy living ; or, in the oft-repeated and comfortable words 
of Scripture, rearing children "in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord." Such Christian education is given in the Sunday school, the 
Church, and the family. But, surely, something more than this is in- 
tended to be conveyed by the words " Christian education." Living in 
what is called a Christian land, and concerned as we are that our chil- 
dren shall be instructed, first of all, in "the principles of the doctrine of 
Christ," we find it necessary to carry our educational system much 
farther, to fit our young people for their duties as Christian men and 
women in the every-day walks of life. Under this title we really in- 
clude general education on all subjects of human inquiry which have for 
their purpose to make men and women practical and useful in their 
day and generation. 

But most of this knowledge is secular; and it maybe asked, How 
has it any thing to do with Christianity? It is the same in matter 
and form, by whomsoever it is imparted. There is, strictly speaking. 
no Christian mathematics, no Christian chemistry or physics; and, if we 
pass from theoretical instruction to practice, a Mormon engineer may be 
educated to build bridges and construct railroads as well as a Christian ; 
436 



APPENDIX Vin. 

a Jew may be learned in chemistry or astronomy; a Unitarian may be, 
and often is, a better scientist than an Orthodox Churchman. 

But the rarest secular accomplishments are as nothing in the balance 
when weighed against the word of God and the salvation of men. The 
best secular learning, unguarded by the doctrines of Christianity, is 
never content to remain secular ; it sets forth arrogant claims of a quasi- 
religious character. — a religion of humanity, in direct opposition to the 
truth as it is in Jesus. Indeed, we are led to observe that, in the mar- 
vellous advance of material science in this age, unbelief has resulted 
from partial knowledge, and, in some cases, that the scepticism which 
seeks to dissipate doubt has gone out of its way to defy Christianity. 
Devout men who are ignorant and weak are frightened, and deplore 
this condition of things. What will it lead to? They feel the strong 
ground giving way under their feet. 

Not so the Christian athlete, infused with the spirit of the Church. 
He finds a new cause for activity and energy; he hastens to bring to the 
front the complementary truths of God's word and providence. He 
takes and subsidizes the knowledge gained by his opponent, and hedges 
it for safe and holy keeping within the precincts of the Church of the 
living God, which asserts itself anew in this controversy as " the pillar 
and ground of the truth." 

And here are presented the highest functions of Christian education, 
— to see that Christian children receive the best secular instruction with 
the condition that whatever is taught, both in matter and manner, shall 
be in accordance with Christian doctrine. 

With regard to the work of education accomplished under the direct 
control of other Christian bodies, this Convention has no immediate 
concern. Without failing to recognize differences in doctrine and 
practice, we may be justly thankful for all honest efforts iu the edu- 
cation of the people of the land, and for the success which they 
achieve ; but our own duty is clear, and is large enough to tax all our 
energies. 

It is for the Church to take the subject of education into her own 
hands ; to surround and guard her children in all their training with 
the instruction and influence of religion, according to her own tenets and 
order ; to establish parish schools for the young, and attract others than 
her own children by the excellence and beauty of the teaching ; to create 
and foster institutions of higher learning, for the instruction of young 
men and young women, — Church-academies, colleges, and universities, 
open to all, but distinctively teaching all secular branches, under the 
auspices a.nd guidance of the Church. If this work can be carried on 
with energy and vigor, without in any way entering into controversy or 
antagonism with other religious denominations, it will, in the judgment 
of your Committee, be the best way of providing for what is called 
Christian education. For Christian education, in the intendment of 
this Convention, is, in the committee's judgment, education under the 
auspices and guardianship of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the 
United States of America. Thus, including all secular knowledge, it 
is sought to sanctify it by the transcendent power of the Faith ; to 
accompany it at every stage with that careful Christian training in the 
Church, which, if one receives as a child, when he is old he will not 
depart from it. 

This is the strategic point against which the enemy of souls brings 



JOURNAL OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 

his strongest batteries to bear; and here the most uncompromising battle 
must be fought. If he can secure the young - , his absolute conquest is 
assured. To do this, he arrays himself in angelic guise on the side of 
science and education: he would seduce the young, pervert their teachers, 
and deceive, if possible, the very elect. 

Holding these views, your Committee would offer the following sug- 
gestions : — 

I. That the title under which the Committee is appointed should be 
changed from " Christian Education," to " Education under the Auspices 
and Control of the Church." This would exclude controversy, and con- 
centrate our efforts. 

II. That it be strongly recommended to all Churchmen, to use their 
means and energies in founding and maintaining parochial schools and 
other Church institutions of various grades, commensurate with the 
demands of the age and the needs of our people, in science, literature, 
and art. This includes the idea of securing such endowments as will 
give permanence, and enable Church-schools to compete successfully with 
others in the matter of charges ;• for under this head it is well to take 
into serious consideration whether, as a rule, our institutions are not 
more expensive to pupils than those of many other Christian bodies. 
This is at least notably true in comparison with Roman Catholic 
schools, where the sisters and fathers, saving in the matter of their 
living expenses, give their services as teachers and guardians, and thus 
relieve the schools of a large item in salaries. Our Church-schools are 
becoming more and more popular; and many persons, not Churchmen, 
are beginning to send their children, to avail themselves of the elevating 
and refining influences which they exert, and are universally considered 
to exert, on the character of the pupils. The greater expenses may. to 
some degree, neutralize the effects of this popularity. Much might be 
done in this regard, and indeed something is being done in schools for 
girls, by the use of sisterhoods and brotherhoods; and your Committee 
would strongly urge upon those religious persons, without other ties, to 
give their time and services to this good cause. Such, too, would be the 
best of teachers. Cultivated ladies are in many places devoting them- 
selves as nurses to the sick and wounded; why should they not become 
nurses and guardians of the souls and bodies of the young under the 
guidance of the Great Physician? 

III. Your Committee would deprecate the practice, on the part of 
Churchmen, of sending their children to schools specifically under the 
auspices and control of other denominations, in which the religious 
.teaching is different from that of the Church. The rationale of this is 
obvious : In Roman Catholic schools, both the doctrine and the practice 
are, in our opinion, erroneous; and, besides, the pupils are taught that 
our Holy Church is no part of the Church of Christ at all, but a schis- 
matic body. The practice of sending Protestant children to such schools 
has been prolific of perversions. Many other bodies deny the distinc- 
tive claims of our Orders, and the efficacy of the Sacraments. And there 
are other schools of no religious denomination, eager in the pursuit 
of physical science, which permit it to be clearly seen that they are 
emancipated from all faith, and count the blood of the Covenant, where- 
with we are sanctified, an unholy thing. With such, the Age of Rea- 
son has come again, and there is no place for God and His Church. 

IV. In the opinion of your Committee, too much care cannot be taken 



APPENDIX VIII. 

in providing proper education, especially of a hirgh order, for girls. We 
need not enter for a moment upon the question of the co-education of 
the sexes. It has really grown out of a desire to give to woman an 
opportunity to profit by the highest learning, at present only to be 
obtained in our great colleges and universities. It grows out of a mani- 
fest need which we should seek to supply, by founding and improving 
schools exclusively for girls, with an advanced curriculum. Much has 
been already done in this direction. It cannot be too strongly urged 
upon the Church to foster such schools, not only on account of their 
direct claims, but because out of them comes the endearing and powerful 
influence of wives and mothers who mould the men who shall be the 
soldiers and heroes in the sacramental host. The higher education of 
boys will thus receive an indirect but strong impulsion from the higher 
education of girls. 

V. It is a source of pride and satisfaction, that, in the absence of a 
concerted system of Church schools and colleges, under direct Diocesan 
control, there are numerous well-ordered private schools, under Church 
influence, which offer to parents good opportunities for the education of 
their children, in their immediate localities. 

These are the fruit of private enterprise, but in most cases references 
are made to Bishops, Clergymen, and distinguished Churchmen, whose 
names seem to afford a guaranty of sound religious teaching. It would 
be well, whenever practicable, to place such schools, in some form or 
other, under Diocesan control, in order to be perfectly sure that they are 
free from all defects or delinquencies in this respect, which the Church 
would not countenance. 

Such, in brief, are the views of your Committee on Christian Educa- 
tion in the Church. In order to give more practical point to these views 
and suggestions, the Committee have in preparation a statement of the 
work being accomplished in the different Dioceses, in order that the 
members of our Church may be to some extent informed of the progress 
made, and the opportunities afforded, in various localities, for the edu- 
cation of our children. The statement is made up in part of the re- 
ports on the subject in the latest Convention Journals, and in part from 
the not very numerous responses to a circular note of inquiry sent to 
each of the Bishops. Incomplete as it may be, it may be regarded as 
the beginning of a valuable digest, which may be perfected in the 
future. It is proposed by the Committee to ask for its publication as an 
Appendix to this Report. 

It occurs to your Committee further to recommend that in the Dio- 
cesan Journals there be a separate statement of the educational work in. 
each Diocese ; as in many of them it has been a difficult and tedious 
task to find the desired information, scattered as it is in the parochial 
reports and in the addresses of the Bishops. 

The Committee conclude by offering the following resolutions : — 

I. That the title of the subject confided to the Committee be hereafter 
changed from " Christian Education " to " Education under the Auspices 
and Control of the Protestant Episcopal Church." 

II. That the suggestions contained in the report are approved, and 
earnestly recommended to the adoption and action of the Church. 

For the Committee. 

HENRY COPPEE 



JOURNAL OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 



II. —REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON EDUCA- 
TION UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE PROTESTANT 
EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Your Committee respectfully beg leave to submit the following: — 

At the last General Convention a Joint Committee was appointed to 
serve during the recess, and to present before this body a matured plan 
and tabulated statistics, bearing upon the subject of education. That 
Committee presented their Report, which was, by the House of Deputies, 
accepted, together with the resolutions thereto appended. In the House 
of Bishops it was, after discussion, referred back to the Committee, and 
they, in turn, referred the Report, and the whole duty of considering 
the subject further, to us, the Joint Standing Committee of this present 
session. 

We find, by examination, that the papers presented by former Com- 
mittees, when taken together, cover nearly the whole ground. The first 
Committee on this subject was appointed by the General Convention of 
1865. The same Committee has been continued, with yearly changes in 
its membership, until the present time. 

It is to us a matter of regret, that the previous reports relating to 
Christian Education, containing as they do much that bears directly 
upon the most pressing need, and upon the most important part of the 
Church's work in this present age, should be buried out of sight in the 
pages of our Convention Journals. These reports represent the wisdom 
of our most able legislators, and the plans and longings of the Church's 
most earnest leaders. Some of them have since been called away from 
the discipline and stewardship of this life into the rest of the blessed 
dwellers in that paradise beyond the grave, where the shadowy and par- 
tial becomes at last the perfect knowledge. 

In our judgment, there is no subject more vital, none more closely con- 
nected with the well-being, nay, the very life of the Church, than this 
which you have asked us to consider. In its broader scope, and in its 
deeper soundings, it touches and includes every other interest, both 
secular and sacred. The whole growth of Christianity and the stability 
of society depend upon the kind of education which our children are 
receiving. "This," you say, "is a familiar truth." Very likely, but 
how many believe and act upon it? " But it is a platitude, a threadbare 
statement." Perhaps it is ; nevertheless, it constitutes a living principle. 
It is the root out of which every thing else must grow to a healing or 
else a deadly fruitage. 

And your Committee, profoundly impressed as they are with the im- 
portance of this, cannot help lamenting, and expressing their surprise 
at the woeful lack of interest which Churchmen generally, and espe- 
cially the members of this representative body, manifest in regard to 
education. We busy ourselves fashioning an elaborate superstructure 
of canonical legislation, either careless or ignorant of the question 
whether the foundation upon which we are building be solid rock or 
shifting sand. The cry for men, and for money wherewith to carry on 
the Church's w r ork, is heard from almost every Diocese. In our recent 
missionary meetings, we have just been devising ways and means for 
supplying whatsoever is lacking, and wondering why soldiers and con- 
secrated offerings of princely wealth come not to the help of the Lord 



APPENDIX VUI. 

against the flood of spiritual indifference, and sin, and heathenism, that 
is rolling in, with mighty and increasing power, upon this fair civilization 
of modern times. 

More labourers and more money are certainly and sorely needed. But 
there is needed more, and first of all, a right and loyal spirit in the 
Church itself, — that is, in each and every member of the same. And 
this must be the result of a true Christian training*. This is the power 
without which the most perfect system of machinery will stand motion- 
less. This is the life without which the outward organism is dead. 
" The Church," said the late Bishop Wilberforce, " has always been 
tempted to substitute something else for the simple work of bringing 
individual souls, one by one, into the fellowship of Christ's love and 
sacrifice," — that is, of educating them in regard to their personal duties, 
training them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Hence, we 
claim that the subject assigned to our Committee underlies every other 
which this Convention has to consider. At the very foundation of 
every thing stands this one imperative and universal need and duty ; 
namely, that the Church educate properly and religiously its own 
members. 

In our report we desire, therefore, to set forth at the outset what 
seems to us to be the correct theory of Churchly training, and, next, to 
mention some of the several ways in which that theory may be made 
effective. In other words, we wish to remind you of the true principle 
and the proper methods of education under the auspices of the Church. 
And we shall endeavour to touch only upon such points as have been 
passed over in the previous reports relating to this subject. 

I. — The Principle. 

And, in the first place, we would call attention to the daily increasing 
importance of that particular kind of training which this Church has 
been commissioned, and is fitted to impart. While we are in fullest 
sympathy with every honest effort to enlighten the ignorant, and to 
make the world wiser, while we feel that the work of every conscien- 
tious teacher is to be commended, we, at the same time, hold that edu- 
cation under the auspices of this Church has merits and advantages 
which are wanting in other systems. We say this in no spirit of arro- 
gance or narrow bigotry. We do not claim to be better than other 
educators, but we believe in the superior excellence of the principles 
which we hold. We prize them not because they are ours, but because 
God revealed them, and because he has promised to work through them 
upon human souls, and thereby to lift the world heavenward. 

Holding as we do the unchanged and the unchangeable Gospel of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, we possess, to begin with, something definite and 
fixed. We have a standard of truth, a sure basis of investigation, an 
unfailing clew to the labyrinth of knowledge. 

Now, the special function of the Church is to teach. It was estab- 
lished by God to be a " witness of the truth." The nearer we get at the 
root of this question, the more clearly it will be seen that the distinction 
commonly supposed to exist between secular and religious truth, and, 
consequently, between secular and religious education, is fictitious and 
unreal. The Church is the body divinely commissioned to teach. The 
kingdom of truth is one and undivided. It includes whatsoever God 



JOURNAL OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 

has, in any way, made known. It covers the laws of nature, as well as 
those of the Spirit unfolded through a supernatural revelation ; the 
meaning- of the "elder scriptures writ in the rocks," as well as the 
things communicated to the world through living oracles. In short, it 
includes natural science, and history, and philology, and every branch of 
human learning. 

Two conclusions follow from this : (1) "Without religion, all teaching 
must be essentially imperfect. There is a yet living, though forgotten, 
significance in the fact that the term "university" was first given to 
theological schools, because in the opinion of the world's earlier scholars 
theology included all the sciences. The Gospel reveals not merely its 
own facts, but also the meaning of every thing else which can possibly 
become the subject of human investigation and discovery. It furnishes 
the only satisfactory explanation of creation, and of history, because it 
shows the purpose for which the world was made, and the end towards 
which the stream of progress is tending. It tells us something definite 
concerning the whence and the whither of humanity. Hence, the edu- 
cation always needed, and, needed now more than ever, because the 
whole drift of the age is setting in an opposite direction towards mate- 
rialism and secularism, the only education which can satisfy the wants 
of men, and fulfil the purpose designed by God, must be grounded upon 
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

(2) From the principle already mentioned, a second conclusion also 
follows. Education under the auspices of this Church must .include 
not only religious but also secular knowledge. Its schools should be 
able to claim patronage on account of something besides their religious- 
ness. In other words, they should be prepared to teach "whatsoever 
things are true," in the most thorough and effective way. The Church 
ought to furnish every kind of instruction which the age demands, put- 
ting foremost, indeed, the things which are most essential, — the eternal 
truths which God has revealed in his "Word, — but not despising or ignor- 
ing those which pertain to this world. 

II. — Methods. 

In conclusion, your Committee would suggest some of the many 
methods whereby the principle which we have set forth may be carried 
out, and made to produce its legitimate results. And here we can do 
little more than hint at possibilities. We need, speaking now in a gen- 
eral way, Christian homes, Christian schools, and Christian colleges. 

(1) The Church's public institutions ought to be established upon 
firm and permanent foundations, so that the teachers engaged in them 
can devote all their time and thought to their proper work, and not be 
distracted by anxiety concerning support. On the other hand, there is 
needed just as much a class of men and women who are willing to 
make teaching their life-work, labouring not for hire, but in the spirit of 
self-sacrifice. There may not be any absolute necessity for organized 
sisterhoods and brotherhoods, as such, provided the services which they 
render can be secured in other ways. Nevertheless, the services them- 
selves are impr/atively needed; for, if the Church is to educate the 
nation, — and God hath set her here for that purpose, — she must have 
schools for all classes, for the rich and for the poor; for those who prefer 
to pay liberally for their instruction, and for those who can pay little or 
nothing. 



APPENDIX VIII. 

(2) We would also, in this connection, call your attention to the great 
good which would result from endowing scholarships and fellowships. 
By scholarships, for example, our schools and colleges could furnish 
instruction free of expense. If, as ought to be the case, they were 
awarded after a competitive examination, they would draw into our own 
institutions the better and more promising scholars, many of whom now 
go elsewhere. In this way the ranks of the ministry might be con- 
stantly recruited with worthy young men. They could then feel that 
they have earned a right to the privileges which they enjoy, and are 
not the recipients of charity. And this is a noble feeling, a mark of 
Christian manliness. By means of fellowships connected with our 
collegiate and theological institutions, this Church might eventually 
stand before the world a leader and authority in every kind of learning, 
Each man has his natural vocation. Some are fitted to serve as parish 
workers, and others as preachers, and others as instructors. There are 
others still who were designed to be students only, explorers and inves- 
tigators, spending their years in the seclusion of libraries, bringing out 
therefrom ''things new and old." Scholarships will make our colleges 
permanent. They are the best possible form of endowment, for they 
establish a direct link of communication between the institution itself 
and those who can deservedly enjoy its privileges. Fellowships will 
make our colleges the centres of learning. 

(3) We would suggest, moreover, the advantages which would result 
from t^ie official recognition of schools, even if such schools have no 
immediate connection with the Diocese. It would be well, we think, if 
each Diocese appointed a Board of Visitors, whose duty it should be to 
visit officially every parochial and private school within the State, and 
consult with rectors and teachers concerning their work. If it were 
deemed advisable, these visitors might make an annual report to the 
Diocesan Convention, embodying whatsoever facts would be likely to 
interest the Church at large. Such reports would form a reliable basis 
from which the Committee of this body could frame such a statement 
of facts as they have long desired to furnish. 

Besides, this plan would go far towards removing that feeling of 
isolation which now frequently hangs as a heavy burden upon the 
hearts of Christian teachers. It seems to them that they are standing 
alone, working single-handed, and struggling, if not groping onward 
without leadership, bereft of even the slightest manifestation of sympa- 
thy on the part of the Church, under whose nominal auspices, and in 
whose behalf, they are toiling. 

Nor would we have you overlook the great benefit which would result 
if these Boards of Visitors in several contiguous Dioceses, as, for ex- 
ample, those in the Eastern and Middle, those in the Western, and 
those in the Southern States, would, from time to time, meet in con- 
ference, for the discussion of topics and methods connected with the 
great work of education here in our own country, and throughout the 
world. We think there is need of a more concentrated and better- 
organized effort in the prosecution of this, the Church's fundamental 
work. We ought to multiply the resources and increase the value of 
the institutions already existing, rather than go on adding indefinitely 
to the number of them. Let it be known and felt, that along with the 
brotherhood of faith there should be a brotherhood of learning. 

This Church has not yet recognized as it ought the dignity and the 



JOURNAL OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION. 

sacredness of the ministry of teaching. Preaching and instruction are 
essentially one. The woman who guides young children towards the 
right understanding, even of earthly things, may be doing a work just as 
holy as that of the ordained sermonizer. It should not be forgotten 
that St. Paul places teaching foremost among the different ministries 
established by the Lord. " God," he says, " hath set in the Church first 
apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers; after that, miracles, gifts of 
healing," and so on. And the great commission given to the Church 
by its Risen Head included this very office. His ambassadors were told 
to disciple human souls by baptizing them into the Triune Name, and 
then to teach them obedience to whatsoever He had commanded. The 
heart and conscience of the Church need to be quickened to a recogni- 
tion of this. When the body shares the devotion of its Divine Head, 
when this tremendous gravitation of society towards the earthy shall 
have been overcome by the inspiring and uplifting power of the Holy 
Ghost, the necessity of Christian education will be better understood. 
The present apathy of Churchmen towards their own institutions, the 
meagreness of their patronage compared to what the cause demands, are 
among the saddest signs of the age. They indicate a lack of faith. 
Yet, although the resources available for education under the guidance 
of the Church are limited ; though the numbers gathered in her own in- 
stitutions are relatively few, there is no reason for despair. One well- 
educated man or woman, one soul built as a living stone into the 
spiritual household of Christ, one person pure in heart, strong in faith, 
and furnished with noble and sound principles, is worth more in God's 
sight, and will effect more good in the world, than can be wrought by 
scores of those whose learning has been gained apart from Christ. 

Your Committee would recommend the adoption of the following 
resolution : — 

Resolved, That the Bishops and Clergy be most earnestly requested to 
bring this subject to the attention of the members of this Church ; that 
they remind the people of their duty to support and build up our own 
schools and colleges, and to make education under the auspices of the 
Church superior in all respects to that which is afforded in other in- 
stitutions. 

W. M. GREEN, Chairman. 

EDWD. R. WELLES. 

JOHN SCARBOROUGH. 

HENRY A. COIT. 

EDWIN E. JOHNSON. 

A. TOOMER PORTER. 

WM. B. BODINE. 

R. W. OLIVER. 

WM. K. DOUGLAS. 

R. A. LAMBERTON. 

HENRY COPPEE. 

S. M. CURTIS. 



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